Final Farewell
It was hard to believe when I woke up that sunny morning on 7th Aug, that the day to leave the island for good had finally arrived. It seemed only a while ago that I was the newest resident in town and when everything was still strange and alien.
Perhaps it was due to a month's worth of exhaustion from the frantic packing and farewell gatherings but I was feeling more tired than anything else on that day.
But that was before I arrived at the ferry terminal in the afternoon.
What followed from there till the moments I boarded the ferry I couldn't remember quite clearly anymore. Many tearful hugs and well-wishes, smiling faces and waving hands,colorful streamers floating in the air and the horn of a departing ship.
The scene that greeted me as I stood at the deck waving to the crowd that had came to send me off at the terminal. There were my junior high school students in uniforms and some of the kids from elementary schools. Many were holding onto one end of the color streamers with the other end tied to the deck railings.
And then there were the teachers from schools who were so sweet to have taken the time off.
Colorful banners and signs that caught my eyes as I looked down at the crowd standing in the sweltering summer heat cheering me on.
Finally the ferry pulled off from the land and wafted gently into the sea. It moved faster than I expected but those were the most heart-breaking few minutes I've ever experienced.
And that was it, a beautiful end to the most beautiful experience. Goodbye Narao, my home away from home for the past one year.
Faces of Narao
So i spent the last 2 weeks on the island making thank you cards and writing appreciation notes for these folks whom without which my days in Japan would have been a much duller memory.
Some pictures that Alvin took with the owners of Kotobuki, the faces behind what is possibly the most delicious sushi place in town. Come to think of it, I've no idea what their real name is! Anyway, Mr. Kotobuki prepares the best and freshest sushi you can ever find, with menu that varies with the catch of the day from the local fishermen and was also the only person in the whole of Narao who could pronounce Alvin's name the way it should be instead of the usual A-ru-bin or A-bin!
And here is Jun-chan, brother-in-law with the sushi man and an accountant at the town's hospital. A jovial old man who is always tipsy at the end of the day from his after work drink sessions at the local bar, we spent many sessions chatting about nothing in particular over beer and sushi at Kotobuki.
A parting shot with the cake shop owner,Hamasako san at 一鶴堂(Ikkakudou), Narao's premier cake and cafe and one of my favorite Sunday afternoon hangout. This old man is full of character, makes the most delicious desserts and is always asking me to find a Japanese boyfriend so that I won't have to leave Narao! I also taught all 3 of his grandchildren in schools and got along very well with his daughter-in-law Misae-san.
Owners of Nice Day, the largest grocery store in Narao-Yasu, his wife and their grandson Yudai. Very nice people who lent me one of their bicycle for a year and treated me like one of their daughters.
Toshi san is a very close friend of the Hanasakis. Otherwise known affectionately as the Pachinko Star(going to the pachinko from Mon-Fri is like her day job you see), she also runs a 'snack' or 'sunaku' as the Japanese would have call it. In the Japanese sense, a'sunaku' usually refers to a small and cosily run bar serving mainly alcoholic drinks with some finger food. We spent many Saturday nights watching the big screen TV at Toshi's Sunaku while sipping her freshly brewed coffee or specially concocted Toshi's special. As Toshi belongs to the 'I-will-never-step-onto-a-plane' category of folks in Narao, she is definitely one reason why I will have to return to Narao over and over again.
Lastly, we have Michiko or Mic-chan, mother of another student of mine. This picture was taken at the town's festival last year when she was the official hairdresser for all the dancers. Being the lady boss of an izakaya near where I stayed, I used to drop by her place for an occasional glass of chuhai and that was also where I would be fed the latest happenings and gossips in town.
These are but some of the many friendly faces of Narao, people who had treated me extremely kindly and whose hospitality I would never be able to fully repay. From strangers in the beginning to good friends, these folks were like my guardian angels on the island, always keeping a lookout for me and always there when help or company were needed. Thank you very much for your wonderful friendships and I look forward to the day that I'll be going home to Narao to see all my friends once more.
August 6th, 2007
Today marks the exact one year since I arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo last August 6th. How on earth a year just went by like this I have no idea.
One year ago the night before, I remember being up till late and having a hard time falling asleep cos in a few hours time, I will be on the plane on my way to pursuing a long cherished dream. What will my new home in Japan be like? What kind of people will I meet? How will the year ahead be like? A general sense of anticipation and uncertainty and an immense feeling of excitement about my new life in a foreign land kept me wide awake.
A year later the same night, I had trouble falling asleep again but this time for completely different reasons. In a day time, I will leaving this island that I have come to love so much, the mountains, the sea and the people whom I had met and became friends with. It's a strange kind of feeling really and no words can fully describe how I feel at the moment. I am a firm believer in fate and that everything happen in life for a reason. For otherwise how can one explain all that had been so far.
Happy Birthday Narao Papa
Heartfelt Thanks
It's the summer holidays now. There are no students and no classes and yet I have to be here till the very last day my contract expires. Sounds like a drat huh. Welcome to Japan!
I heard it wasn't like this in the past. Some ALTs somewhere must had taken advantage of the situation to cause the management to enforce stricter measures, which include coming to 'work' even when there wasn't really any work. We are of course allow to offset using our leaves but as I had used up mine for all the travelling throughout the past year, I have to appear at Narao JHs everyday still.
But oh well, not that I mind actually. It beats staying at home in the sweltering afternoon,with boring tv programs and no access to the outside world. At school at least there is free internet not to mention air-con. But still you might ask what do I do to keep myself occupy these days?
It may not be hard to guess from the frequency that this blog's being updated that I've been spending quite a bit of time blogging about my last few weeks on the island, penning down the various thoughts and emotions that has been going on inside me during this period of time. When I am not writing, I spent the rest of the time chatting with some teachers in the staff room, writing farewell notes and preparing various parting gifts for people who had been a big part of my life here on this island.
By parting gifts, they are really photo collages that I've been making all these while of some of my travel pictures. I thought long and hard on what I can give to these folks that are meaningful and without having to burn a whole in the pocket. There is also the slight problem of having limited shops here. It dawned upon me eventually to just work with what I have and these are some results of my several days of labour.
For Hanasaki sensei & Teruko san,
The Bijins
I knew I just had to take a picture of this poster the instant I saw it outside this cosmetic shop called 神戸美人ぬか本舗 in Kobe.
You see, 'bijins' is an endearing nickname that my group of university gal pals from honors class days had unabashedly given ourselves. As can be deciphered from the Chinese character, bijin (美人)simply means beauty or literally The Pretty Ones as Sharon would have called it. It started out as some kind of joke, the details of which I don't think anyone remember now. The origin of it though forgotten, somehow the name just sticks around.
I certainly did not think that I would have made such good friends by the time I was done with my tertiary education at NUS. If one have to put it this way, the bijins are indeed a bunch of latecomers in life. But as the saying goes, it's better to be late than never.
The group comprises of varying personalites and are different in ways more than one. What makes the chemistry in this group special is the fact that unlike friends you met at secondary schools or JC, who had more or less grown up together over the years, the bijins do not share such background nor history and pursue various interests but yet that did not prevent everyone from becoming good friends.
While we studied together for a year or so in university, we really only got closer as a group after leaving school. Fresh and new to the working world then, someone started an email forum (at work!) and before long we found ourselves exchanging emails daily! We hung out often from then, a few picnics, Christmas parites, drinking parties, potluck parties (oohh..the bijins just love potluck parties), not forgetting our annual Chinese New Year Lo Hei at Fatty Weng's. With such close bonding, it is a matter of time before many of our other halves were invited to our many gatherings too.
The bijins do not have to talk on the phone or be constantly in the know about what is going on in one another's life but when we come together, it is as if we've never left. Topics after topics and the conversations just flow. We've talked about it before and we all agreed. You see, the bijins celebrate low maintenance friendship.
But whenever the group get together, it's always a good feeling. I know this is a bunch of girls I can count on. And I know too that these are people I can grow old with.
英会話
For an hour every wednesday evening for most part of the year here, I conducted an English conversation class (英会話) at the kouminkan (公民館) or commnunity center in Narao. Although not written inside my official teaching contract, it seems like a tradition for the ALTs in this town, both past and present, to give free lessons to the locals as part of community involvement.
Not that I minded it at all. The truth was I had way too much time on hand anyway. Conducting eikaiwa had been a fantastic way for me to meet and mingle with the folks in this town. My 'students' are all older than me and come from all walks of life. One is a grandfather of 3 and owner of the largest supermarket in Narao. Two are teachers and fellow colleagues at the junior high schools that I taught at. Others included a semi-retired post office worker, a middle-aged civil servant and a couple of full time housewives. Whatever it is, the one thing in common is the interest to learn English and curiousity about foreign cultures, people and the world outside Japan.
In the beginning I was a little nervous at the thought of having to teach a group of elderly students with varying levels of English proficiency and without a definite syllabus and textbooks to follow. I soon learnt though that there isn't much expectation and the main purpose of an eikaiwa is really to HAVE FUN while learning a foreign language.
While the initial lessons were more ad-hoc and of a trial-and-error nature, the later ones were more structured as I managed to tailor the classes accordingly to suit most ability and preference. A typical lesson consisted of singing a song at the start for warming up followed by listening comprehension and rounded up with some simple day-to-day English conversation practice. On other occasions, we organised cooking and cultural show-and-tell sessions. Whatever it was, I am glad to be part of the eikaiwa and be able to contribute a little,no matter how insignificant it may be, to the town of Narao, a place which had given me much more than I can ever return.
宇治金時
It's the thick of summer here now and what better way to tackle the unrelenting heat than to down a bowl of this delightfully refreshing iced shavings dessert or kakikori (かき氷). Initially, I couldn't really comprehend the Japanese obsession with it, I mean it's just ice-kacang isn't it. I was quite taken aback that many would happily fork out a couple of dollars just for a bowl of syrupy flavored ice. Through the many conversations I had with people, quite a handful of them even seem to think that ice-kacang is unique to Japan and that it must be fascinating for the uninitiated foreigners. So when they found out that we can eat this stuff ALL year round, it was their turn to be surprised. And then it dawned upon me that the reason why kakikori is being devoured in such a celebrated manner is because you only get to eat it in the few hot months before the cooling air signals the coming of autumn and ice-kacang is out of favor once again.
Recently though I've developed a craving for this particularly Japanese style ice-kacang called (Ujikintoki). Instead of the usual fruity and sweet flavor, this one uses green tea syrup and has chunks of red bean paste hidden beneath the pile of ice. Eaten with drizzles of condense milk, the wonderful combination of red bean and green tea is simply heavenly! Given the fact that I wasn't much of an ice-kacang fan back home, I amazed myself when I was able to finish the entire bowl of this icy summer treat just on my own. Somehow I can't remember enjoying ice-kacang this much before. Or maybe I'm just bias because ujikintoki puts together 2 of my favorite distinctively Japanese ingredients to create something this delectable.
Perhaps it's time to pay more attention to ice-kacang when I am home again. But if anyone does come to Japan during summer time, please do give my favorite Japanese ice-kacang a try. If you are like me and really enjoy traditional Japanese sweets, I promise you will like ujikintoki too.
A house is made of wood and beams; a home is built from love and dreams
I was writing some cards at the desk last night when the screen saver mode of my laptop came on and the pictures slideshow started. As images after images streamed across the screen, some of earlier days when I just arrived, others of places I've been to, people whom I've met and activities participated in, it felt as if my entire one year in Japan had just flashed right across my eyes that instant. And as the iTunes continued to sing the familiar Kobukuro song that is always playing in Tamami sensei's car as we go swimming, tears just welled up unknowingly and before I realised it I was sitting on my tatami floor bawling my eyes out.
I know I am a strong girl and I can handle life's many things. I am more thankful than anything to have the opportunity to experience all that I had so far, for all the unbelievably kind people that I have the good fortune to meet and become friends with and I feel extremely blessed at the knowledge that all this while I have my family and boyfriend's unflinching love and support.
Just that anyone who had experienced being abroad for sometime will be able to understand. Like a friend pointed out exactly, parting is never easy, especially when you're saying goodbye to a life you've built for yourself by yourself in a foreign land.
This is my favorite corner in the entire apartment. As of now, it is still sitting like this at home. I have yet to have the heart to take it down, not quite yet. For when the day comes, it is REALLY time to go.
